Mulga Lands

The Mulga Lands are an interim Australian bioregion out of eastern Australia made up of dry and sandy plains that are scattered with mulga trees.

Located in inland New South Wales and Queensland these are level plains with some low hills and infertile sandy soil with a cover of shrubs and grasses with mulga and eucalyptus trees. The region incorporates regions of wetland, the majority of which are only seasonally flooded, these include Lake Numalla and Lake Wyara, the Currawinya Lakes, Lake Bindegolly and others on the Warrego and the Paroo Rivers, the latter of which in particular remains comparatively unmanaged and in its natural state.

This area consists of a very dry climate, with unpredictable low levels of rainfall. The plains are drained in three different directions: the eastern side by the Wallam, Nebine, and Mungallala Creeks, and the Warrego and Paroo rivers into the Murray-Darling Basin; the southwest by the Bulloo River into the wetlands close to the Simpson Desert; and finally the northern side by the Barcoo River towards Lake Eyre. The Great Artesian Basin is located below these plains and more rich patches of wildlife are found around mound springs that stem from the basin.

The mulga lands are thinly populated and mainly utilized for grazing sheep and cattle.

The mulga lands are defined by the plant life and poor soil and as such are separate from the neighboring ecoregions, the Brigalow Belt towards the east and the Barkly Tableland towards the north, both of which have better soil and richer plant life. Towards the south and east, however, the Mulga lands combine into the Simpson Desert.

The Mulga trees are a form of acacia which have adapted to efficiently collect the rare rainfall, are the unique habitat of this ecoregion while the ground cover is made up of shrubs and grasses. However, the mulga lands are not consistent and there are no micro-climates and patches of other kinds of habitat, particularly regions of eucalyptus woodland in the better-watered portions that have more wildlife than the mulga acacia plains themselves.